The film is tale of intrigue, plots and the inevitable war between the two families. Ramchand and Bhishamchand were two pioneering brothers in business. Bhishamchand, a life-long bachelor brought up the two sons of Ramchand on his demise. He also gave the family business a firm foundation. Khubchand (Vinod Doshi) the older son of Ramchand begets two sons, Dhanraj (Victor Banerjee) and Sandeepraj (Akash Khurana). Puranchand, Khubchand's younger brother had died a few years ago. His three sons are Dharamraj (Raj Babbar), Balraj (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) and Bharatraj (Anant Nag). Another player in the game is Karan (Shashi Kapoor) an orphan brought up by Bhishamchand.A series of events take place that bring the long hidden feud between the two families to light and despite Bhishamchand's efforts to mediate between the two, the situation gets out of hand and events take a tragic turn. Dhanraj's men accidentally kill the young son of Balraj and to take revenge Bharatraj murders Karan. Quite a few skeletons from the family cupboard are brought out in the open that only adds to the tensions and hatred, finally culminating in the destruction of the two families making us ponder on the brittleness of our moral fabric.

1857, India is in turmoil. Units of East India Company are in revolt, leading to a popular uprising against British Rule. One scorching Sunday morning in May, a church is attacked and some Englishmen are massacred. Only Mariam Labadoor, the widow of one of the Englishmen, her daughter Ruth, and her mother Mrs James are the survivors. Javed Khan, a brother in law of Sarfaraz Khan, the sepoy who led the massacre, sees Ruth and is obsessed with her and gives her shelter in his home. He will not be at peace until he possesses her. Instead of joining the fight for freedom, Javed Khan stays home, bent upon marrying Ruth, by force...